Probably with my color. I know, Darigan isn't the most popular of all colors, and I know that most neopian pets would greatly prefer to be painted with one of the cuter colors, like "Baby" or "Faerie".
But that never held much fascination for me. With my 38238 hours, I'm a fairly young neopet, and I was born in the time between the Wars over Meridell. All of my childhood, I admired the Darigan soldiers and nobles that visited our little town, their inky fur shimmering in the moonlight, their crimson eyes shining proudly.
Contrary to common belief (some call it propaganda), not all Darigans are evil. Some poor souls are twisted, hideous creatures, driven mad by the curse that lay upon their land, but others were kind, noble spirits that endured patiently, and hoped for peace and prosperity to return.


I've always been small as a child, and had some hard times with the bullies that are common in our rural area of Meridell. One particularly unpleasant one, a burly skeith with a nasty temper, accompanied by two of his sidekicks, was especially keen on showing their superiority.
They had seen me at the window, gazing longingly up to the floating citadel in the sky, and every day the reminded me of my "wrong ways".
Traitor! Coward! Darkling! We will show you what your Lord Darigan is worth!, they called, and, weak and without friends as I was, there was nothing that I could do against them.

After one of these days, I was curled together in a dark corner of the town street, sobbing, feeling miserable and helpless. Suddenly a shadow fell on me, and I looked up and froze. Before me stood, framed in the mouth of the alley, one of the most impressive Darigan Aishas I've ever seen. Her fur was full and silky, her claws shimmered like onyx, and from her deep red eyes shone with intelligence and willpower.
But the -disallowed_word-If not, try asking a few Faeries in Faerieland!)
Similiar to this, the alchemists use three additional concepts:

	MERCURY , the "liquid silver", fluid and cool, is a symbol for spirit and intellect.
	SULPHUR , burning and hot, associated with air and fire, symbolizes the soul.
	SALT , always remaining, unchanging and earthy, stands for the body.

Alchemy was a secret and mystical work for a long time, and alchemists used symbols and codes like the ones above to make it harder for strangers to understand. The symbols modern scientists use for the planets are derived of alchemical symbols, for example.

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